Meet the volunteers and International Staff

Present Volunteers

Tyler Retzlaff

I am a volunteer at the Center for Ecumenical Studies through Mennonite Central Committe´s (MCC) Serving and Learning Together (SALT) program. I am from Calgary, Canada and I am a student at the University of Winnipeg in Winnipeg, Canada. At the University of Winnipeg, I am studying International Development and Conflict Resolution.

At the CEE I am working in communications as well as territory defense. SALT is a program that allows young adults from Canada and the United States to volunteer and learn in contexts different from their own. MCC is an international peace and development organization rooted in the values of Mennonite Anabaptist theology. Peace, justice, and community are all aspects highly valued in Mennonite theology, and likewise those values are exhibited through the work of MCC internationally, locally, as well as through programs such as SALT.

Clementine Poupaert

I recently became part of the CEE team, and work in the department of solidarity and peace, I had known the CEE for a few years already when I was working for Mennonite Central Committee in Mexico. I am from the border town of Strasbourg in France where I was born and raised and attended a Mennonite church. I studied film in France and worked with refugees in Canada before I came to Mexico where I also worked with the refugee population in Casa de los Amigos as the volunteer coordinator. I like passionate conversations, good food, running and being in nature.

Madison Burke

Hello all! My name is Madison Burke, and I am a volunteer with Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM), a program with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). I am serving this year with the Center for Ecumenical Studies in México City, working in the communications department and with territory defense. I am from Charlotte, NC, and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I studied piano performance and communications. YAGM is a program that gives young adults ages 21-29 the opportunity to live and serve for a year in 11 countries around the world, working for social justice. I love reading, music, the arts, traveling, hiking, being outdoors, and spending time with friends and family.

My name is Katie Geluso. I am from Washington State (no, not the capitol where the White House is – the state in the Northwest on the border with Canada :)). I worked with the CEE from 2014 to 2015. I was a volunteer with the Mennonite Central Committee through their program called SALT (Serving and Learning Together). During my time I was a communications assistant. I worked a lot with the CEE’s and their partners’ websites and collected news stories relating to communities with which the CEE worked, but the bulk of my job was taking photos and videos at panels, press conferences, and public peace services and protests.

Gracia Johnson

Hello! My name is Gracia Johnson. I am originally from St. Cloud, Minnesota, whose size pales in comparison to the vast and vibrant Ciudad de Mexico where I served as a volunteer through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Young Adults in Global Missions program. Through YAGM, I was privileged to work with the Centro de Estudios Ecumenicos as a member of the Communications team and an assistant with the Land and Territory Defense team. The CEE will always hold a special place in my heart for the many ways its mission and my co-workers taught me to participate in community action as people of faith working for social change.

Kirsten Wee

Kirsten Wee served with Young Adults in Global Mission through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She worked at CEE from August 2014 to July 2015. Along with her colleague from MCC and other colleague at CEE on the Communications Team.

Franziska Gebhard

My name is Franziska Gebhardt and I am from Germany. I stayed two days a week at the CEE during my World Church Peace Service from July 2012 to August 2013. My social service base was a parish in Nezahualcóyotl, a suburb of Mexico City, Here I worked different activities and educational programs while living with a Mexican family. I loved living and working at the CEE because the whole team welcomed me so openly and I could be a part of everything because I could take responsibility. It was very interesting and beautiful to immerse myself in the Mexican culture, to know new perspectives, to open my horizons and to know new interpretations of faith through the great variety of ideas and thoughts in the CEE. In addition, my life changed because I have learned that one should not rush to judge unfamiliar facts and realized how valuable it can be to open up to other cultures and perceive with full awareness. An unforgettable experience that I can recommend to everyone!